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LETTER 



f//; 



HIS EXCELLENCY GOYERNOK BULLOCK, 

A 



OF GEORGIA, 



IN KEPLY TO THE 



HONORABLE JOHN SCOTT, 



UNITED STATES SENATOR, 



Chairman of Joint Select Connnriittee to Inquire into the Condi- 
tion of the Late Insurrectionary States. 



LETTER 



HIS EXCELLENCY GOVEKNOll BULLOCK, 



OF GEORGIA, 



IN EEPLY TO THE 



5.^^ 






HOIORABLE JOHN scon, 



UNITED STATES SENATOR, 



Chairman of Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condi- 
tion of the Late Insurrectionary States. 




U.S. A, .1* 



ATLANTA, GEOEGIA. 
1871. 



/'■•■ 









EooM OF THE Joint Select Committee to inquire) 

into the condition of the latb v 

Insuekectionary States. ) 

Washinoton, D. C, May 24, 1871. 
Sir— The sub-committee of the Joint Select Committee of 
"-»' Congress, appointed to inquire into the condition of the late 
^ iamrrectionary Stales, has adopted the follo\Ying resokition; 

.J On motion of Mr. Blair — 

Besoh-ed, That the, chairman bo requested to address letters to the 
executive, or other proper officers of the States comprehended in the reso- 
lution authorizing the appointment of the Joint Select Committee, askino- 
statements of the debts and of the rates and amounts of taxation of said 
States, respectively, at the present time, and to furnish copies of the 
laws creating said debts and fixing said rates of taxation ; also requestino- 
copies of the election laws now in force, and those which have been in 
force in said States, respectively, since the adoption of the present con- 
stitutions of said States, with such other official documents as the chair- 
man shall deem essential to this investigation. 

In pursuance of the duty devolved upon me by this reso- 
lution, I respectfully request that, so far as relates to the 
State of Georgia, the statements and copies of laws therein 
mentioned be furnished as soon as they can conveniently be 
prepared and forwarded. 

Under the last clause of the resolution, I am requested to 

also procure, if it can be furnished, a statement of the amount. 

of the debts of the several States at the time their respective 

ordinances of secession were passed. In this connection, (if 

it can be furnished,) I would be pleased to receive from you a 

statement, giving the amount, rates, and subjects of taxation 

in the State of Georgia prior to the passage of the ordinance 

of secession by said State, (stating, in cases in which slaves 

were the subject of taxation, their valuation,) and the subjects 

of taxation now, as well as the rates and amount. 

Eespectfully, 

JOHN SCOTT, 

Chairman of Joint Select Committee, 

_. And of Sub-committee, &c. 

His Excellency, 

EuFus B. Bullock, 

Governor of Georgia, 

Atlanta, Georgia. 



Executive Department, State oi' Georgia, 
Atlanta, July, 5, 1871. 
Hon. John Scott : 

Chairman Joint Select Committee to inquire into the condition 
of the late Insurrectionanj States, United States Senate, Wash- 
ington, D. C. : 

Sir — Upon my return to the Capital, after an absence from 
the State, I find a printed circular bearing date from the room 
of your committee, May 24, 1871, addressed to myself. In 
this printed circular you incorporate a copy of a resolution 
adopted by your committee on motion of General Frank Blair, 
which reads as follows : 

On motion of Mr. Blair — 

Eesolved, That the chairman be requested to address letters to the Ex- 
eciitive, or other proper officers of the States comprehended in the resolution 
authorizing the appointment of the Joint Select Committee, asking state- 
ments of the debts and of the rates and amoimts of taxation of said States, 
respectively, at the present time, and to furnish copies of the laws creating 
said debts and fixing said rates of taxation ; also requesting copies of the 
election laws now in force, and those v/hich have been in force in said 
States, respectively, since the adoption of the present Constitutions of 
said States, with such other official documents as the chairman shall deem 
essential to this investigation. 

In pursuance of the foregoing resolution, you request that 
so far as relates to the State of Georgia, the statements and 
copies of laws therein mentioned be furnished as soon as they 
can conveniently be prepared and forwarded. You also re- 
quest, under the last clause of the resolution, a statement of 
the amounts of the debts of the several States at the time their 
respective ordinances of secession were passed ; also a state- 
ment of the amount, rates and subjects of taxation in the State 
of Georgia ^jrior to the passage of the ordinance of seces- 
sion, etc. 



6 

In responding to the request of the Congressional Commit- 
tee as presented in the circular referred to, I cannot consent 
to establish a precedent for the future, by recognizing the right 
of Congress to in this manner interfere with or inquire into 
matters which are solely within the control and subject to the 
supervision of the representatives of the people of this State in 
General Assembly met; nor can I forego this opportunity of re- 
spectfully suggesting to the mover of the resolution under which 
the circular is issued, and to your honorable committee, that 
the State of Geoi-gia, after much tribulation, has complied with 
all the requirements which were prescribed by Congress as 
preliminary to her readmission into the Union The fact of 
her readmission has been made known to our people, not only 
through the declaratory statutes enacted by Congress, but also 
in the reception of our Senators and Representatives into that 
body. The State of Georgia, therefore, stands in the Union, 
the peer of every other State, and information touching her 
needs, her requirements, or her condition, will be made known 
and presented to Congress by her representatives in that 
Ijody. I cannot admit that at this day there is anything in 
the fact of her "late insurrectionary condition" which would 
:authorize the representatives of the people of other States 
in Congress to order proceedings toward her which would not 
■equally apply to the people of the several States represented 
by themselves. 

While I would not permit partisan political feeling to inliu- 
ence my official action, I can but feel gratified to know that 
in the position which I have indicated as to the rights of this 
State in her relations to the other States, I am but repeating 
the views Avhich have been continuously set forth by the Re- 
publican party in its several general conventions from the time 
of its organization iintil tlie present day, and am sustaining 
the position taken by the Republican party in this State in the 
conventions which have been held in the course of their efforts 
to secure her restoration to the Union. A resolution adopted 
at a convention of the Republican party of Georgia, held in 
this city in March, 1869, during the trials of reconstruction, 
reads as follows : 

11. That when the Reconstruction Acts of Congress shnJl have been 
fully comi>lic(l -with, and Georgia shall have been recognized as a State in 
Ihe Union, we will demand for her every right now gi;aranteed to other 



states in the Union, and would deprecate any act of Congress looking to 
the control of the affairs of any one State, that would not equally apply 
to all the States. 



I am aware that by an ingenious legal construction it is 
assumed that the late amendments to the Constitution of the 
United States have so extended the powers of Congress that 
a majority of its members, acting in harmony with the Execu- 
tive, have absolute control over all the functions heretofore 
universally conceded to be such as purely appertain to the 
local organization of the States. But as the Executive of one 
of the States, I most positively dissent from this construction, 
and as a Republican decline to accept such an interpretation 
as being approved by the Republican party organization 
throughout the country. Whatever may be the fine-spun 
theories of legal gentlemen upon the question of the powers 
delegated by the late amendments, we may be fully assured 
that the great mass of the American people regard them as 
simply such measures as were necessary to guarantee the abo- 
lition of slavery and prohibit further attempts to destroy the 
Union; to secure the payment of the debt of the United States, 
and to prevent the denial of civil and political privileges to 
citizens on account of their race, color or previous condition of 
servitude. Any attempt to go beyond this reasonable and 
well-established opinion of the people for the purpose, and in the 
hope of obtaining political power, no matter how well devised 
may be the pretext, will meet with a swift rebuke from an over- 
whelming majority of American citizens. Any political party 
that would dare to resurrect and vitalize the issues that were 
crushed into graves at Appomattox and Greensboro, would 
meet with like treatment from a large majority of the people 
South as well as North. No one in the South would now 
accept the restoration of slavery; no one seeks the repudia- 
tion of the United States debt. The State of Georgia does 
>'0T deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United 
States to vote on account of race, color or previous condition of 
servitude; nor does this State deny to any person within its 
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 

How, in the face of these facts, can we justify action towards 
her that if attempted against New York or Massachusetts 
would be spumed by an indignant people ? 



8 

Let us rather adhere to the original and lasting foundation 
of repubhcanism, so concisely and so ably presented by Jeffer- 
son when he says: 

"Equal and exact justice to all meu, of whatever state or persuasion, 
i"eligious or political ; peace, commerce and honest Iriendship \Tith all na- 
tions— entangUng alliances with none ; THE SUPPORT OF THE PTATE 
GOVERNMENTS IN ALL THEIR RIGHTS AS THE MOST COMPETENT 
ADMINISTRATIONS FOR OUR DOMESTIC CONCERNS AND THE 
SUREST BULWARKS AGAINST ANTI-REPUBLICAN TENDENCIES ; 
the preservation of the General Government in its whole constitutional 
vigor as the sheet-anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad ; a jeal- 
ous care of the right of election by the people— a mild and safe corrective 
of abuses, which are lopped by tae sword of Revolutjion where peaceable 
remedies are unprovided; absolixto acquiescence in the decision of the 
majority — the vitiil principle of Republics, from which there is no appeal 
but to force, the vital principle aud immediate parent of despotism; a M-eli 
disciplined militia — our best reliance in peace and for the first moments 
of war, till regulars may relieve them ; the supremacy of the civil over the 
military authority; economy in the public expense, that labor may bo 
lightly burdened; the honest payment of our debts and sacred preserva- 
tion of the public faith; encouragement of agriculture, aud of commerce 
as its handmaid; the ditfusion of information, and the arraignment of all 
abuses at the bar of public reason; freedom of religion; freedom of She 
press; freedom of person under the protection of the haheas corpus; and 
tiial by juries impartially selected—these principles form the bright con- 
stellation which has gone before us, and guided our stejis through an age 
of revohition and x-eformation. The wisdom of our sages and the blood 
of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. ■ They shoiild be the 
creed of our political foith— the text of civil instruction— the touchstone 
by AvLich to try the services of those M'e trust; and should we wander from 
them in moments of error or alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and 
to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty and safety." 

I have ventured to say this much that my official action, 
as the chief Executive of one of the States in the American 
Union, might not be misunderstood, and my compliance -with 
the request of your committee be used in the future as a prec- 
edent against the State ; and also, that as far as any act of 
mine might go, the Union Republican Party should not be 
held as indorsing the extreme construction which is sought to 
be given to the late amendments to the Constitution, 

By the active exertions of a small political clique, in oppo- 
sition to the present administration, aided and supported by 
the State Treasurer and a powerful railroad corporation, which 
seeks to strangle or absorb every other raili'oad enterprise in 
the State, willful, malicious, unfounded and unfair statements 
have been scattered broadcast through the press, for the pur- 
pose of injuring, to as great an extent as possible, the credit 
of the State, and thereby prevent tha marketing of such of 
her securities as I have been authorized aud instructed to. 



9 

issue, and to render less valuable the State's indorsement on 
bonds of railroad companies. For personal reasons, therefore, 
I am gi'atified that an opportunity is given me, by this request, 
to make known, semi-officially, the exact financial condition 
of this State. 

I am advised that the Hon. Madison Bell, Comptroller-Gen- 
eral of this State, has, in response to a similar circular, given 
to your committee, in bulk, the statistical uafoi^mation called 
for ; and I shall therefore only recapitulate the comparative 
figures, to exhibit the points of information which I under- 
stand your committee requires. 

It is proper to state that under our statutes, the Comp- 
troller-General is the ofiicial check upon all the other depart- 
ments of the State, and that his office, together with that of 
the Secretary of State, controls the records, the official j^ro- 
ceedings, and the transaction of the State's affairs. The office 
of Treasurer is only clerical — that official being simply the 
custodian and disburser of such moiieys as may be placed in 
his hands by the Governor, or from taxes collected through 
the Comptroller-General. 

The public debt of the State, as shown by the Comptroller- 
General's report for 18G1, was $3,688,750. The public debt of 
the State on the 1st day of July, 1868, a few weeks before the 
present administration came into office, was $6,256,635 — show- 
ing an increase of debt between the close of the war and the 
adoption of the pi'esent Constitution, (the State government, 
during that time, being under the able administration of Gov- 
ernor Jenkins, founded upon President Johnson's "procla- 
mation,") of $2,567,885. 

The expenses of that State government, as shown by the 
report of the Comptroller-General, are as follows : 

October 16, 1866, to October 16, 1867 $2,689, 363 85 

October 16, 1867, to August 10, 1868 271,145 56 

Making a total expenditure for the twenty-two months of 
Govex'nor Jenkins' administration of two million nine nuNDKED 

AND SIXTY THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND NINE DOLLARS AND FOUTV-ONE 
CENTS. 



10 

The expenditures of the present administration from Aiigusl 

11, 1868, to the first day of Januarj-, 1869, were $ 430,957 77 

Same from January 1st, 18G9, to January 1st, 1870 1,857,825 98 

Same from Januarj- 1st, 1870, to Januarj' 1st, 1871 1,470,021 02 

3Iuking a total, up to the first day of January, 1871, a period 
of twenty-nine months, under the jjresent adminis- 
tration, of. 53,758,804 77 

Thus showing that, Avith double the voting population, and 
•double the numbei' of citizens entitled to the care and atten- 
tion of the State, its courts, etc., and for a period of time 
.covering great excitement and disorder, the expenses of my ad- 
ministration have been an average of nearly five thousand dol- 
iAES PER MONTH LESS than thosB of my predecessor, and this, 
too, notwithstanding the heavy expenses necessarily incurred 
by the numerous, and in fact almost continuous, meetings of 
the General Assembly, made necessaiy by the hesitauc}' of 
Congress in acting upon the question of the readmission of 
our State into the Union. 

The total valuation of property, as returned by the people 
of this State for taxation in the year ISGO, was — 

Land §161,764,955 

Slaves 302,694,855 

City and town property 35,139,415 

Money and solvent debts 107,336,258 

Merchandise 15,577,193 

Shipping and tonnage 943,940 

Stocks, manufactories, etc 4,034,252 

Household and kitchen furniture 2,374,284 

Other property not mentioned 42,427,295 

Making a total of $672,292,447 

Upon which the rate of taxation was 6i cents on one hun- 
<lred dollars. 

Taking from this total valuation, amounting to $672,292,447 

The value of slaves 302,694,855 

And we have, as the total valuation of the taxable property of 
the State of Georgia in 1860, exclusive of the estimated 
value of slaves, the amount of $369,507,592 

The return of the value of taxable property in this State for 
ithc year 1870, being the last made, is — 



11 

Aggregate A-alue of land S 95,G00,67'1: 

City and town property 47,922,544 

National Bank shnres 985,900 

Money and solvent debts 26,646,095 

Merchandise 12,884,118 

Shipping 214, 775 

Stocks and bonds 5,482,765 

Cotton manufactories 2,975,498 

Iron works, etc 658,026 

Mining .■ 33,140 

Value of household and kitchen furniture 1,519,857 

Plantation and mechanical tools 162,859 

Talue of all other property 30,933,568 

Making a total value of all property of $226,119,529 

Upon which the rate of tax is four-tenths of one per cent., 
(4-10 of Ic.) 

It will be observed that the total return of taxable property 
(exclusive of slaves) immediately after the war is $143,478,003 
less than the return for 1860, just previous to the war; but 
when we consider that the whole domestic and agricultural 
labor system was annihilated; that our people were dismayed, 
discouraged and paralyzed, it is not strange that this result 
should appear. In fact, it is remarkable that the falling off in 
values Avas not greater. Under our statutes, the value of 
property as returned for taxation is fixed by the owner. We 
have no arbitrary assessments, except in cases of default. 
Under these circumstances, the fact that there has been a 
steady increase in the value of property returned for 1868, 
1869 and 1870 is very gratifying. The return for 1869 
exceeds that for 1868 by thikteex million two hundred and 

FIFTY-SIX THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-SIX DOLLARS, and 

the return for 1870 exceeds that for 1869 by twenty-one mil- 
lion SEVEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-EIGHT THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED 

AND SIXTY-FOUR DOLLARS. The Special tax on professions, polls, 
shows, liquor, etc., results in an average revenue of nearly 
$500,000 per annum. The receipts from the State Railroad, 
as provided by lease, for twenty years, net three hundred 
THOUSAND DOLLARS per anuum. 

The ordinance of secession was passed on the 19th day of 
January, 1861. The debt of the State, as per ComptroUer- 
General's report of that year, was $3,688,750. The report 
of the Comptroller-General, after the close of the war — Octo- 
ber 16, 1865 — states the debt at that time, of bonds issued and 



12 

authorized to he iasued before the war, to be $3,645,250; of this 
amount about one million dollars were issued during the war. 
In the report of the Comptroller-Geueral to tlie Provisional 
Governor appointed by President Johnson, October IGth, 1865, 
he uses tlio following language : 

In response to the rt-quest of your Excellency that I report also upon 
the public debt uow due, that was created before the war, and the amount 
created siuce the ordinance of secession, the objects for which the same- 
was created, etc., I have the honor further to report, that the amount of 
bonds issued before the war, and now unpaid, is S2, 077,750 ; the amount 
anthorized to be issued before the State seceded, and now remaining unpaid, 
(including the 82,677,750) is §3,645,250. 

That your Excellency may better understand the matter, I will state 
that the item of $100,000 of 6 per cent, bonds, due in 1881, in the table 
above, although not issued until February, 1861, (after the ordinance of 
secession) j'et the same was authorized to be issued by act ai^i^roved Feb- 
ruary 27th, 1856, authorizing bonds to be issued to pay the State's sub- 
scription to the Atlantic & Gulf Eailroad ; and these bonds M'ere issiied 
for that purpose. Again, the items of $25,000 and $842,500, due in 1881, 
in same table, although not issued until February 1861, and May, 1862, 
vet they were authorized to be issued by acts approved November 10th, 
i860, und December 16th, 1801. The "act of November 16th, 1860, in 
view of the condition of the country, appropriated §1,000,000 as a Mili- 
tary Fund "for the purpose of placing the State in a condition of defense," 
and authorized the issue of bonds of $500 each, payable twenty years 
from date, bearing six per cent, interest, to meet the same. On the Ist 
of February, 1861, said bonds, to the amount of $807,500, were prepared 
and ready for issue. The banks agreed to let the State have the money 
for $842,500 of the same, but thought 6 per cent, too low. The Govei-nor, 
however, agreed to recommend the ensuing Legislature to allow 7 per 
cent. Consequeutlj', on the 16th December, 1861, an act was approved 
authorizing the Governor to cancel all said bonds that were issued to the 
banks, and to give them, in lieu of the same, bonds bearing 7 per cent, 
interest, which was done on the Ist of May, 1802. 

Bonds of the State were authorized and issued during the- 
administration of my predecessor — Governor Jenkins— to the 
amount of four millions fivk hundred thousand dollars; so that 
the bonded debt of the State, upon my coming into office in 
1868, was represented by $6,544,500, and this was the amount 
January 1, 1871. 

Under the authority granted by act of the Legislature,. 
(pages 14 and 138 of the laws of 1868, herewith enclosed, and 
pages 4 and 5 of the laws of 1870, also enclosed, authorizing 
the Governor to issue bonds of the State to redeem bonds and 
coupons due, or when the same shall have fallen due, until 
otherwise ordered by law, and for such other purposes as the 
General Assembly may direct, and to borrow a sufficient 
amount of money, on the credit, of the State, on such terms 
as to liim sliall seem best, to pay olY the members and officers- 



13 

of the General Assembly,) currency bonds were executed and 
issued as collateral security for temporary loans. These tem- 
porary loans have been met and provided for, and the currency 
bonds cancelled. These currency bonds were never intended, 
and were never oiFered, for sale. Under the authority of an 
act of the Greneral Assembly, authorizing the Governor to issue 
bonds to pay the interest on the public debt, and to meet bonds 
that have fallen due, and as they fall due, which covers bonds 
issued before the war, that have fallen due since the war, and 
will fall due during this and the next year, (page 4 of pamphlet 
laws, 1870, enclosed,) three millions of dollars of gold bonds 
have been executed and registered, and have been, and will be, 
sold from time to time, as it has become, and may hereafter 
become, necessary for the purposes authorized by law. 

The contingent liability of the State is represented by what 
is commonly known as " State aid " to railroads, although, 
under the present Constitution of this State, the policy of 
"State aid," which has been pursued in other States, is 
entirel}^ prohibited, and the Legislature is restricted to simply 
authorizing the State indorsement for the prompt payment of 
the interest and principal on the first mortgage bonds of cer- 
tain railroad companies, after the roads have been constructed 
and are in operation for sections of ten and twenty miles, the 
indorsement not to exceed, in any case, one-half of the cost of 
such road. The State has, as a protection against such indorse- 
ment, a first lien upon the whole property, with the right of 
immediate and unobstructed possession of the property, upon 
any failure on the part of the companies to meet their indorsed 
obligations. 

(In some of the other States, before and since the war, 
railroads have been aided by the States becoming large 
shareholders and paying for their stock by the issue of State 
bonds, and in this manner have burthened their people with a 
debt. As I have before stated, everything of this kind is pro- 
hibited by our Constitution. ) 

This contingent liability has been incurred, under the cir- 
cumstances above set forth, upon the Macon & Brunswick 
Railroad, now completed and in operation, between Macon 
and Brunswick, a distance of two hundred miles, to the extent 
of $13,000 per mile. The total amount, however, of the State's 
indorsement ^ipon the bonds of this company is but $2,550,000. 



14 

This contingent liability lias also been incurred upon that 
portion of the Alabama & Chattanooga Railroad running- 
through this State, a distance of 24 3-10 miles, to the extent of 
$8,000 per mile, the total amount of the State's indorsement 
being $104,400. 

The only other roads which have oi-ganized and secured the 
necessary amounts of cash subscription, and have constructed 
the necessary number of miles to entitle them t{^indors*?ment, 
are the South Georgia & Florida, from Albany to the Florida 
line, which is entitled to an indorsement of $8,000 per mile; 
the Brunswick & Albany Railroad, running from Brunswick 
to the Alabama line, which is entitled to $15,000 per mile in- 
dorsement upon gold bonds; the. Cherokee Railroad, running 
from Cartersville to the Alabama line, which is entitled to an 
indorsement of $12,500 per mile, and the Atlanta & Richmond 
Air-Line Railroad, from Atlanta to the South Carolina line, 
which is entitled to an indorsement of $12,000 per mile. 

The South Georgia & Florida Eaih-oad, when completed to the 
Florida Hue, will be 73 miles in length, with a total in- 
dorsement of 584,000 

The Brunswick it Albany Kailroad, when completed to Eufaula, 

will be 242 miles in length, with a total indorsement of.'. . S3, 630,000 

The Cherokee Kailroad, when completed to the Alabama line, 

will be 47 miles in length, with a total indorsement of. .. 587,500 

When all the railroads, which have up to this time placed 
themselves in a condition to be entitled to the indorse- 
ment of the State, shall have been completed, the total con- 
tingent habihty of the State will be $7,545,900. 

The statutes authoi-izing these and other railroads to receive 
the State's indorsement, under the restrictions that I have 
explained, were passed by a large majority of the General 
Assembly. This question has never been a political one here; 
the bills were voted for by Democrats and Republicans, and 
are almost unanimously approved by the people of the State. 
The small minority in the Legislature oi)posed to the policy 
were about equally divided between the two political parties. 

The only exceptions to the general rule are in the case of the 
Brunswick & Alban}', Macon & Augusta, and Atlanta & Rich- 
mond Air-Line Railroads. The Brunswick & Albany Railroad 
Company was organized by northern capital before the war, and 



15 

had constructed some sixty miles of railway from Brunswick, 
west. During the war, as is alleged, the iron from this road was 
taken up by the then State authorities and placed upon the 
Atlantic & Gulf Kailroad, in which the State was and is a large 
stockholder, and upon the Western & Atlantic Kailroad, be- 
longing exclusively to the State. This company, reorganized 
since t°he war, having rebuilt over one hundred miles of their 
road, proposed, as a settlement of their claims against the State, 
a plan which was accepted by the Legislature, whereby the com- 
pany deposits with the State $10,000 per mile of seven per cent, 
second mortgage gold bonds having twenty-five years to v\m, 
and receives from the State $8,000 per mile of seven per cent, 
gold bonds of the State from time to time as the road is con- 
structed. As the Brunswick & Albany Railroad Company pay 
7 per cent, to the State Treasury upon $10,000 per mile, the in- 
terest paid by the State on her bonds, to the amount of $8,000' 
per mile, is provided for, and the surplus forms a sinking fund 
which provides for the redemption of the bonds at maturity. 
"When the Brunswick & Albany Raih-oad shall have been com- 
pleted to Eufaula, the total amount of State bonds received 
by it wHl be $1,880,000, and the State debt proper will then 
be increased by that amount secured as above stated. 

The Macon & Augusta Railroad was authorized to receive 
an indorsement from the State at the rate of ten thousand 
dollars per mile; but, after having completed some thirty miles- 
of their road, the company found themselves able to negotiate 
their bonds for a larger amount per mile than the State wa& 
authorized to indorse for, and has therefore never applied for 
the State indorsement. That road is now in full and success- 
ful operation between Augusta and Macon. 

The Atlanta & Richmond Air-Line Railroad, which is enti- 
tled, as I have before stated, to an indorsement of $12,000 per- 
mile upon the completion of the first twenty miles of that road, 
received the indorsement of the State upon its bonds for 
$240,000. The work having been thus successfully inaugurated, 
the company found themselves able to negotiate their first 
mortgage securities for a much larger amount per mile than the 
State under the statute would indorse for, and the company 
has, therefore, returned to the State the bonds bearing her in- 
dorsement, and the road is now being rapidly constructed, over 
sixty miles being already in operation, without receiving the 
State's indorsement upon its bonds. 



16 

Under the restricted and conservative system provided for 
by our present State Constitution, it is not believed that any 
serious burdens can be thrown upon the State Treasmy, be- 
cause of the fact that no indorsements are given until the 
extent of road indorsed for is in actual operation, and when 
so given is for such a limited amount that the property, in any 
contingency, would be more than sufficient to secure the State 
against loss. In fact, the practical experience, aftci* four 
5'ears trial, has been such as to fully justify the wisdom and 
good policy of our system. The Macon & Brunswick Road 
has earned and promptly paid its interest. .The South Geor- 
gia & Florida Road has made an alliance with other responsi- 
ble companies, whereby the interest on its bonds, together 
\nt\i a fair rate of per cent, to its stockholders, is secured. 
The Alabama & Chattanooga Road, owing to its complications 
in connection with its larger debts in Alabama, has failed to 
meet its interest in January and July. The State, however, 
has promptly met its liability by paying the interest on the 
bonds indorsed by her, and is amply secured by the value of 
that portion of the road lying within the State upon which 
her indorsement rests. Large gangs of hands are working 
upon the roads not yet completed, and it is believed that they 
will be completed before the first day of October next. That 
portion of these roads already constructed and in operation 
is reported as doing a fair business, and each company has 
promptly paid its interest on bonds indorsed. 

I have heretofore referred, in this communication, to the 
fact that the value of the return of taxable property has 
increased nearly fourteen millions in 1869, and nearly 
twenty-two millions in 1870, as compared with the years pre- 
vious ; and, upon analyzing this fact, we find that the increase 
has been directly stimulated by the lines of railroad which 
have been put in operation by reason of the assistance given 
them through the State's indorsement. 

It is quite natural that a practical man should inquire what 
benefit railroad companies derive from this limited indorsement 
by the State. But that inquiry is answered when we reflect 
upon the fact that a portion of the money necessary for the 
construction of these roads must be obtained froni the North- 
ern States or from Europe, and that neither in the North nor 
in Europe would capitalists take the time or the trouble to 



17 

inquire as to the solvency of comparatively unknown corporfy- 
tions in the South, which might present themselves offering to 
sell their securities; but when these securities carry with them; 
the guarantee of the State of Georgia, for the prompt payment 
of the interest and the principal of the securities that are 
offered, the capitalist, relying upon that indorsement, finds it 
unnecessary to make further inquiry, and the corporations are 
thus enabled to make the negotiations that are necessaiy for 
their success. 

In other words, the people, having capital sufficient to sub- 
scribe and pay for an amount of stock necessary to pay the" 
cost of construction of the first section of their proposed road^ 
are enabled to borrow, upon their bonds thus indorsed, the 
money necessary to pay for half of the cost of the continua- 
tion of construction. And when, as in the case of the At- 
lanta & Kichmond Air-Line, or the Macon & Augusta Rail- 
road, their work has progressed to such an extent as to attract 
to it public attention and confidence, they find themselves able 
to obtain even a greater credit than the State is permitted to^ 
indorse for, and by retiring the bonds bearing the State's in- 
dorsement, they are enabled to progress without the assistance 
which was really necessary in the infancy of their enterprise 



The laws relating to elections are to be found in the Code 
of Georgia, sections 1303 to 1364, inclusive, 4980, 4982, 4981,- 
121, 122, 346, 1312, 4940, and in pamphlet laws, 1870, page 6,. 
for a special election held in December last. The rate of tax, 
is prescribed by sections 801 and 802 of the Code. The rate is 
fixed by the Governor and Comptroller-General, after the 
returns of valuation are received. The rate for last year and 
this will be, as heretofore, four-tenths of one per cent, on the 
valuation returned by the owners of property. 



The amount of salaries of the State officials, judiciary, etc., are 
about the same as that paid before the war, and under the 
administration of Governor Jenkins, viz: Governor, four thou^ 
sand dollars per annum; Judges Supreme Court, three thou- 
sand five hundred dollars each per annum; Attorney-General, 
two thousand dollars per annum; Judges Superior Courts 
2 



18 

twenty-live liuudred dollars per auuum eacLi; Secretary of 
State, Comptroller-General and Treasurer each, two thousand 
dollars per annum; members of tlie General Assembly, nine 
dollars per day, and live dollars for eacli twent}^ miles. 



Certain political pLilosopliers find peculiar relief in assum- 
ing that under the Southern State Constitutions " the w6alth, 
worth and intelligence of the country is disfranchised," and, as 
a consequence, that these State governments are controlled by 
strangers, and by men without character ; and that the panacea 
for these fancied ills can only be found in their continued hypo- 
critical howls for " universal amnesty." So far as Georgia is 
concerned, the facts do not justify the assumption. In this 
State, a Constitution was framed and adopted in I860, under 
the authority of President Johnson's proclamation, which dis- 
franchised ninety-five thousand male citizens over 21 years of 
age. This was democratic. 

Under the authority of an act of Congress, a Constitution 
was framed in 18G7 and 1868, by delegates elected by the peo- 
ple, and ratified by the votes of a majority of the people, 
'whereby every male citizen 21 years of age, of sound mind 
and not convicted of crime, is authorized to vote and hold 
office. There is not a word or a line in that Constitution 
which disf)'anchises or disqualifies any citizen of this State 
from the exercise of any political privilege. 

The only restraint upon the exercise of political privilege is 
that found in the Constitution of the United States, which 
prohibits fi'om holding office persons who had officially sworn 
to support the Constitution of the United States, and after- 
wards violated their oath by engaging in the rebellion; but this 
disqualification is merely nominal, for, so far as Georgia is con- 
•cerued, whenever those who declared the reconstruction acts 
" to be revolutionary, unconstitutional and void," liaA'e defied 
Congress by electing a gallant Confederate General as a repre- 
sentative in Congress, that body have invariably removed the 
disability and seated the member ; on the contrary, when 
duly elected, and eligible Republican members have presented 
themselves. Congress has refused or declined to receive them. 
In this State there is, so far as I know, not more than a dozen 
men in office, (and those of an unimportant character,) either 



19 

elected by the people or appointed by me, who were not either 
natives of the South or resident citizens here before and during 
the war. 

The officers appointed by the Governor are three Judges of 
the Supreme Court, twenty Judges of the Superior Courts, 
one Attorney-General, twenty Solicitors-General, State School 
Commissioner, Superintendent, Treasurer and Auditor of the 
State Railroad, six trustees of the public institutions, etc. In 
this number there was but one gentleman who was not either 
a native of the South or a citizen of Georgia before and during 
the war. The one referred to was eminently fitted for the 
position to which he was appointed, and, as a man of worth 
and good character, is not surpassed by any in the State. The 
gentlemen appointed who were natives or old citizens are men 
against whom no ill was ever said previous to their " accepting 
the situation," under the reconstruction acts, by their "de- 
parture" in 1867; — men who would have been universally rec- 
ognized as leaders of the "wealth, worth and intelligence 
of the country," if they had opposed those acts. These gen- 
tlemen possess as much pi'operty and pay as much tax as per- 
sons occupying similar positions under the State government 
ever did. There are some hundreds of officials of less import- 
ance appointed by me, but the same rule will hold good in 
their case ; and I trust that I will be excused the appa- 
rent egotism of . saying of myself that I was a citizen and 
slaveholder in Georgia long before the war, and up to the time 
of my election was actively and successfully engaged in business 
pursuits. I resigned the position of President of the Macon & 
Augusta Railroad Company to accept the office that I now hold» 
I Lave no political aspiration or ambition beyond a successful 
performance of my official duties during this term of office. My 
personal comfort and pecuniary interests would have been 
greatly increased had I never consented to participate in the 
effort to carry out the Congressional policy of reconstruction; 
but believing our interests as a people would be forwarded by 
acquiescing in the inevitable, I have given my best endeavors in 
that direction. I have no fault to find, or regrets to express, 
except that gentlemen claiming high position in the Republi- 
can party North, lack the moral courage to sustain the results 
of their own acts. 

Respectfully, RUFUS B. BULLOCK, 

Governor of Georgia. 



A.DDEISrDA.. 



His Excellency liufus B. Bullock : 

Governor — In compliance with the request of your Excel- 
lency, I have made a thorough examination of the records of 
the Executive Department, touching the action of the depart- 
ment upon the subject of pardons. 

Prior to your inauguration, there was no analytical record 
kept of cases of this character; and the only information that 
can be derived on the subject is the copies of orders announc- 
ing pardons, scattered through the Executive minutes. 

From July 4, 1868, to July 4, 1871, a complete record has 
been kept, showing in full the apphcation, the evidence, the 
recommendation and the Executive action in each case. From 
this I ascertain the following facts: 

There have been during that term of three years pardons 
for — murder 41, of which 25 were pardoned before trial; mur- 
der commuted, 15; voluntary manslaughter, 24; involuntary 
manslaughter, 7; assault with intent to murder, 36; burglary 
in the night time, 41; burglary in the day time, 11; simple 
larceny, 68; larceny from the person, 1; larceny from the 
house, 14; larceny after a trust has been delegated, 5; other 
larcenies, 24; assault and battery, 14; assault, 8; assault with 
intent to commit rape, 5; arson, 5; robbery, 8; stabbing, 3; 
cheating, 3; swindling, 4; incestuous adultery, 1; bigamy, 6; 
fornication, 3; adultery, 6; forgery, 4; perjury, 3; seduction, 
2 ; kidnapping, 1 ; bastardy, 1 ; rape, 1 ; bribery, 1 ; compound- 
ing felony, 2; malpractice in ofl&ce, 1; aiding prisoner to escape. 



22 

2; road commissioner for neglect of duty, 8; intermarrying- 
within levitical degi-ees of affinity, 1; misdemeanors, 29; con- 
tempt of court, 1. 

Upon examination of th« official )-ecord, I find that in 
many and in most all of the cases for murder, where a pardon 
has been granted before trial, the indictments therefor had 
been found before the late war, and some of them during the 
war, and that justice demanded Executive interposition in be- 
half of the accused, as, in many instances, some of the most 
material witnesses on the part of the defense have removed be- 
yond the jurisdiction of the State, and others have, died ; while 
in several other instances the State, on account of the absence 
of some of its most important witnesses, has failed to prose- 
cute the cases after the indictments had been found, and cases 
of that character were in abeyance on the criminal dockets of 
the several courts for years, postponed and continued from 
term to term, greatly to the annoyance and detriment of the 
accused party or parties. In addition to the meritorious cir- 
cumstances attending such cases, pardons of that character 
have generally been most earnestly recommended by the Sen- 
ators and Representatives of the districts and counties, to- 
gether with the most highly respectable citizens of the count}'' 
or vicinity where the crime was alleged to have been commit- 
ted, and, in some instances, by the officers of the court in 
which the indictment was pending. 

Of the 15 cases in which the sentence imposed was commu- 
ted from death to imprisonment, 6 were commuted to impris- 
onment for life, 4 to imprisonment for 10 years, 1 to imprison- 
ment for 5 years, and 4 to imprisonment for 1 year. 

Of the 24 cases of voluntary manslaughter, for which par- 
dons have been granted, one of the convicts served his full 
term, and was simply restored to civil rights, while the sentence 
of three others, on account of the circumstances attending the 
commission of the oflense, was commuted to one year impris- 
onment each — the shortest term of punishment prescribed by 
law. 

I find, upon further examii:ation, that many of the convicts 
pardoned of the offense of burglar}' in the night time had 
served each from 4 to 5 years, in pursuance of their respective 
sentences, which in every instance was imprisonment for life. 



23 

and that all the pardons to that class of convicts were granted 
since the General Assembly, in its wisdom, has deemed proper 
to alter and amend the statute reducing the punishment for 
burglary in the night from death or imprisonment for life to 
imprisonment for a less period. 

In the case of the person pardoned of the offense of incest- 
uous adultery, pardon was recommended by the Judge of the 
Superior Court before whom the convict was tried, on the 
ground that he had been sufficiently punished, having nearly 
served out his full term. 

While several of the pardons granted for the offense of sim- 
ple larceny were for horse stealing, yet most of them were in 
such cases, where by the law the act committed is recognized as 
a misdemeanor only, for which the punishment generally im- 
posed varied ; as, for instance, in some cases imprisonment in 
jail, in others imprisonment and a fine, and in others work on 
the public works and a fine, or, in some cases, all of these pun- 
ishments, as the Judge presiding at the trial, in his discretion, 
deemed proper. In many of these cases, where the prisoner 
was too poor to pay the fine imposed, that alone was remitted, 
or reduced to a smaller amount. In many of the cases where 
pardons were granted for the offenses of assault witli intent to 
murder, assault and battery, stabbing, etc., it was generally 
upon the recommendation of the prosecutor in the case, the 
party injured by the commission of the offense. Among the 
29 cases of misdemeanors, for which pardons were issued, I 
find most of them to be for using opprobrious words, enticing 
and decoying servants to leave employer, riot, vagrancy, etc. 

As a general thing, I find that nearly every one of the per- 
sons pardoned served some part of the term of his sentence, 
and that pardons were only granted upon the solicitation of 
the most well-known and respectable citizens of the counties 
from which said convicts were sentenced; while, in many in- 
stances, pardons were granted to those only who had nearly 
completed the term of confinement imposed upon them, upon 
the recommendations of the officers and lessees of the Peniten- 
tiary, for good behavior, or on account of such physical disa- 
bility as made them unfit to perform manual labor, and would 
have, had they been kept in further confinement, probably 
•caused death. "Where pardons were granted for good behavior, 



24 

they took effect one or two days before the expiration of the- 
term of confinement imposed in the sentence of the court. 
Pardons have been refused in the following cases, to-Avit : 

Mui'der, 10; manslaughter, 5; assault with intent to murdei', 
4; burglary, 4; horse stealing, 3; simple larceny and other 
larcenies, 8; rape, 2; assaults and assault and battery, 7: riot, 
1; forgery, 1; cheating a swindling, 1; perjury, 1; robbery, 2;. 
stabbing, 2 ; fornication, 1 ; adulter}', 1 ; bastardy, 1 ; receiving 
stolen goods, 1; carrying concealed weapons, 2; playing and, 
betting, 1; and other misdemeanors, 3. 
Very respectfully, 

E. H. ATKINSON, 
Secretary Executive Department.. 



014 418 73C 



